One WhatsApp number, five people: how to stop double replies and dropped chats
Sharing a business number across a team is where most WhatsApp setups break. Ownership, routing and visibility fix it.
It starts with one phone on the counter. Then two people need to answer, then five. Before long, customers get two different answers — or none, because everyone assumed someone else replied.
The three rules
- Every conversation has exactly one owner. Show it everywhere.
- New conversations are assigned automatically — by keyword, channel or department — not by whoever grabs them.
- Everyone can see the full history, so handovers don’t restart the conversation.
Setting up routing that works
- Start with departments: Sales and Support is enough for most teams.
- Add a few keyword rules: “price”, “order”, “refund”.
- Use round-robin inside a department to spread the load.
- Review unassigned chats twice a day until the rules settle.
Calls follow the same logic
When a customer calls, ring everyone available and record who answered — so the callback goes to the same person.
Try ThreadWaveWhatsApp, Messenger and phone calls in one private desktop inbox.
Get early access